Page 2AThe BattalionAThursday, May 7, 1987
t
U
Hart’s personal life is the nation’s affair
Imagine being
a goldfish and
living in a large,
transparent fish
bowl which the
whole world can
clearly see into.
Sharp, b e a dy
eyes watch your
every move, in
significant or
not, as you swim
back and forth.
Sondra
Pickard
back and forth, back and forth —
searching for just an inkling of pri
vacy and hoping to find relief, if
only for a minute, from the ever
present presence enfolded around
you and your glass walls.
Not a comfortable thought, but
anyone who chooses to run for pres
ident of the United States might as
well throw up the shades, drag open
the windows or move in with the pet
goldfish.
Whether front-runner or dark
horse, privacy and comfort are not
items included in the package deal
of speeches, smiles and airplane
rides a presidential candidate takes
on, especially now — a time when
hidden character traits and behind-
the-curtain intentions need to be un
covered long before the high office
is actually attained.
from the well-deserved and often-
asked-for “fishbowl syndrome.” It
seems the Miami Herald attempted to
take its campaign-trail journalism se
riously last weekend.
tor the most part, confused anci
where near the truth. Now thestor
a life of its own, and what’s import
not the truth, but the public’spei!
live.
Ib
Democratic candidate Gary Hart
and his Phi Beta Kappa pharmaceu
tical-sales representative friend
Donna Rice, are the latest to suffer
Acting on what it saw as a legitimate
tip, the Herald sent reporters Jim Mc
Gee and Tom Fiedler, by land and air,
to stake out Hart’s Capitol Hill town
house in Washington, D.C. What they
saw there has set off the first and proba
bly biggest sex-related ordeal of the
1988 campaign.
According to the Herald, Hart “spent
Friday night and most of Saturday in his
Capitol Hill town house with a young
woman who flew from Miami to meet
him.” Hart may he about as atypical a
politician as this nation has seen in quite
a while, but he was, of course, politician
enough to deny quickly that Rice actu
ally stayed all night.
“No one was staying in my apart
ment,” the Herald quoted him as saying.
“I have no personal relationship with
the individual you are following.”
The Herald should notbt
demned. The American voterski
major interest in the integrin s,,l,lu
judgment ol a man aspiring tobt|° r< 1 )1< ‘ ,IS
president. Besides, Hart did even® (
short of begging for such coven®
replying to earlier charges
ing in The New York Times ^ j n(1 .
Hart said: “Follow me around,: mon ^ s y
care. I’m serious. If anybody'' r ont and gt
put a tail on me, go ahead. The Some dri
very bored.” E Diamo:
■s that t:c
‘The Dia
1 le asked lor it, and hegotit.At^w en t wai
tailers were anything but bored. :[shntore,
nior campaign adviser agreed oi jfiing ‘
last night th.n I l.n t made a big[ Cpt
by putting himself in such ci:E IU)t * KI
stances to begm with. Mark SluiH as lon
syndicated columnist also appeal g r J to c y iet
CNN, said Hart’s judgment was ani see am
and that it is surely a “major p.Mi her bu
blow.” Ml spots
thar benef
What counts in 1988 is characteE a ^ e '
leadership. Given today’s piobleoE*^-
penally Ronald Reagan’s Iran shtiEj/^3
tec
The stories from Hart and stories
from the Herald don’t at all jibe, nor will
they ever. The real truth has yet to come
out of the closet, and probably won’t
soon — if ever. The newspaper claims
Hart and Rice entered Hart’s town
house arm in arm at 11:17 p.m. Friday wife, why wouldn’t he c heat onhi C^^^I
;0 p.m. try? If he has got to be alone, then'llP^*
gans. Hart should never be seen a
without his wife. If he doescheata
and weren’t seen again until 8:40 p.
Saturday.
An interview with Dr. Vandiver:
Finals, faculty, world-class status
Hart, on the other hand, swears Rice
left Friday evening with his friend and
political adviser William Broadhurst.
Evidently neither reporter watched the
rear entrance from midnight to 5 a.m.,
or the front entrance from 3 a.m. to 5
a.m., leaving open the possibility that
someone left during those times. So who
do we believe? The charming, almost-
young but very married politician hid
ing in his fishbowl, or the wily, beady-
eyed reporters hiding outside behind
the bushes?
Every day I pick
up a Battalion to
find out about im-
p o r t a n t issues
such as “world-
Chris
Rudesill
Guest Columnist
This led me to two more questions —
the first dealt with finals and the second
with faculty retention.
class status,” senior finals and the prob
lems of state budget cuts with respect to
A&M.
And every time 1 read about these
problems I ask myself such questions as:
What precisely is a “world-class univer
sity? What is really and truly being done
about senior finals? What incentives are
there to keep an elite faculty? It sure
isn’t pay, and except for the annual Col
lege Station Jazz Festival which features
North Texas State University’s One
O’clock Lab Band, this place is not a
center for fine arts (you will note that
not all the good professors are conserva
tive Christians and native Texans who
are content to watch rodeos and TV
evangelists).
Let me start by setting everyone
straight on the issue of senior finals:
The issue is as old as the oldest tradition
on campus. Seniors have had to take fi
nals intermittently since the school first
opened its doors. There will be finals
for the Class of’88 on.
can find at least one person in common?
With 39,000 students expected this fall
it will be more difficult. This is all the
more reason to come out of our apa
thetic closets and take interest in what is
going on around us. As a starting place
repeat after me —
HOWDY DAMMIT!
Whatever the answer, the ethical
question of a presidential candidate hav
ing an extramarital affair is much big
ger than the story itself. Most agree that
the Herald exhibited sloppy journalism
in its inconsistent stake-out methods, in
cluding the newspaper’s editors. Had it
done its job completely, the Herald
could have either dropped the story al
together, or opened the public’s eye to a
dishonest man wanting to be president.
not be with a 29-year-old, 5-foot-(3 ||
pound ex-actress and model. Ials I I \
thi feeler;
As former Vice President dements si
Mondale said, “Once they get toEnesda)
dent, candidates better be Mttw on rui ;
gethei as well as you can get * K bP
<ause you arc going t<» dependn; ( |^
for life, prosperity and all the rest )r j a |q e neV(
unmist Ellen Goodman also can jTexas," L
logical argument last week: “Sexu The new
havior can open a window on aLjp
emotional landscape,” she said
learn about impulsiveness, self-coi
even the ability t<> compartn
ethics.”
Chris Rudesill is a senior engineering
technology major.
Unfortunately, it did neither and in
stead ran a story that has left the public,
Hart chose to run for presideni
in doing so has chosen to liveina
howl. America is looking for hones
the White I louse — not deception,
wants continued success and higi
ratings. Hart had better keepin
that millions of eyes are on him.
ing, staring, waiting. It’s all part
game of politics — any little
could cost him his political career.
Sondra Pickard is a senior jourr,.
major and editor o/The Battalion.
The big issue now is the schedule. Dr.
Vandiver told me that he was pushing
for two sets of finals so that Final Review
and Commencement would remain un
changed, and also to honor the religious
rights of non-Christian students and
faculty.
I finally decided to find out the an
swers to my questions — I asked Presi
dent Frank Vandiver. In interviewing
him, my goal was threefold: I wanted to
say that I met him, I wanted to find out
where Texas A&M is heading, and I
wanted to spark an apathetic student
body into taking some constructive in
terest in this University because if we
don’t, A&M will cease to be the “world-
class university” our alumni forged.
The problem is that some of the fac
ulty members don’t want to write two
tests. (I think these are probably the
same who want a faculty club complete
with bar to be provided at students’ ex
penses through the food service). They
need to be lectured to by the world-class
student body they teach, but don’t scare
them away.
What is “world-class?” Dr. Vandiver’s
response was quick — “We already are,
have been for a long time!” He then
proceeded to tell me about his “world
university” concept. In short, it is a net
work of universities scattered around
the world that would work together to
solve basic world problems. These insti
tutions would have to have top quality
students and faculty — the same quality
of excellence that is found here at A&M.
This leads to the question of faculty
retention. How do we keep the high-
quality teaching found here? Shoot Bill
Clements? No — too radical for this
place! The best we can do right now is
support the alumni lobbying to keep the
money we already have, and stock up
apples for your favorite teachers when
we are not arguing over a half a point
on a lab quiz — keep the faith.
Having had my questions of world-
class, finals and budget answered, I wish
to close by defining “world-class univer
sity” — Texas A&M — a very unique
University, a University with traditions,
a University that is close knit (the pur
pose behind any and all traditions).
Where else have you been that you
can introduce two strangers and they
The Battalion
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Member of
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Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Sondra Pickard, Editor
John Jarvis, Managing Editor
Sue Krenek, Opinion Page Editor
Rodney Rather, City Editor
Robbyn L. Lister, News Editor
Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor
Tracy Staton, Photo Editor
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Mail Call
Behind the times
EDITOR:
On the second page of I he Battalion last Friday,
Chuck Docekal complained in his letter of the attention
being paid to homosexuals by I he Battalion and
wondered what impression people visiting A&M would
get when reading these articles.
Well, Mr. Docekal, you may get sick of them, but I (a
visitor from the Netherlands) get sick of people like you
who get frustrated when they are confronted with
different ideas or lifestyles. Did you really think that
A&M visitors would be upset or even surprised to hear
that there are homosexuals at A&M?
Poor guy, you must be terribly narrow-minded. May I
give you some advice to relieve your sufferings? If you’re
not yet ready for the things mum and dad didn’t tell,
continue your gray and dull life and skip the next article
about this subject.
Peter Sterk, visiting scientist
at least 3 hours each; traveling across the country even
weekend; missing classes because of travel; then trying!
squeeze in meals, studying and sleep somewhere during
this week.
This occurs every day, including Sundays. Wegetfai
behind in classes and have to struggle to catch up. Mosi
us don’t know what a social life is, because we have zero
time for one.
Thanks to the 'Hilton'
It is not as if we sit back and are handed cash each
week. Athletic events earn this school many thousandsi
dollars each year that is returned to athletic scholarships
Not all scholarship money is donated by old Ags.
Jensen needs to re-examine her facts and quit
generalizing. As for her concluding remarks, theywerf
rude and highly uncalled for. If she were to dwell oni
athlete’s side of the story instead of her own sorry
opinion, she would discover that our education is not
handed to us on a silver platter.
To help correct her article, a physical-education
major requires 147 hours compared to a measly 128foi
journalism. And what is the signif icance of her Ross
Volunteer remark?
EDITOR:
To the students of Hotard and their RA’s, I would
like to congratulate you and wish you all the best summer
and let you know how much I appreciate your
cooperation. T hank you very much for the good school
term we had.
May Cod bless each and every one of you.
Linda Martinez, custodial worker
Hotard “Hilton”
Margaret Spence ’87
accompanied by three signatures
The Morrison mystery
EDITOR:
1
Athletics is no picnic
EDITOR:
In response to D.A. Jensen’s column of May 5, our
hearts just bleed for the poor lass having to pay her way
through college. And we athletes are just sitting here
wasting all that money. No, we have no incentive to
develop our minds; we just take 14 hours of classes to fill
the gaps in our day.
We challenge Jensen to spend one clay like ours. Let
her try something like this: 3 hours a day of early classes
beginning at 8 a.m., followed by a two-hour workout in
the gym or at the track, in addition to a 1 Vs hour session
of lifting weights; one or two games per week that take up
The time has come for the revelation of a most cos®
phenomena: the mystery of t he disappearance and
presumed death of Jim Morrison is unequivocably and
interminably related to the inexplicable existenceofa
highly advanced civilization in the Peruvian Andes.
Recent intensive research into early cultural
references uncovered in South America involving
interstellar travelers, in concurrent association with a
study of the philosophical treatises and art work of the
errant poet Jim Morrison, has led to an earth-shatterii!|
conclusion.
Quite simply put, Jim Mo son was kidnapped!)'
ancient astronauts because he is coming too close to®
Answer. Take notice, ye unsuspecting world.
Paul Dinkum and Conrad Wong, ’90
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorials
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, hut will make even f
We
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yout
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